Press release

Venezuela pick up first win at South American Championship

Venezuela celebrate as they bounce back from an opening day loss to Colombia to beat Chile in straight sets

Cuiabá, Brazil, September 22, 2011 – Venezuela sealed their first victory at the Men´s South American Volleyball Championship on Wednesday while both Brazil and Argentina continued their winning ways by picking a third win as qualifying for the FIVB Volleyball Men´s World Cup continued in Cuiaba, Brazil.

The eventual champions will qualify for the World Cup, set to be held in Japan from November 20 to December 4, with the top three ranked teams from that tournament earning a berth to the London 2012 Olympic Games next year.

Venezuela v Chile After a free day on Tuesday, Venezuela returned to the court on Wednesday and proved the rest time was beneficial as they saw off Chile in straight sets (25-14, 25-23 and 25-18), recovering from an opening five-set loss to Colombia.

Coach Idolo Herrera praised the performance of the Venezuelans, saying that they needed a day to adjust to play at their best.

“We were able to play better,” Herrera said. “We had more time to practice and get used to the place. Normally teams play better in the second game and we were able to do that. We played tactically very well.”

Argentina v Uruguay Middle blocker Pablo Crer was the only unchanged player to Javier Weber’s Argentinean side in their game against Uruguay, but it did not stop the world No.9 team from sealing a 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-21) win.

For middle blocker Crer, the game was important to help the Argentineans continue their momentum.

“We were able to get all the team on the court” Crer said. “We will need the entire group against Venezuela and Brazil. We had a good game against Uruguay and tomorrow we will have a tough test against Venezuela.”

Brazil v Paraguay Brazil’s strong serve caused constant issues for Paraguay as the world champions clinched a straight sets victory (25-10, 25-14, 25-11). The Brazilians scored 14 points from the service line but coach Bernardo “Bernardinho” Rezende said he did not want to spend any time dwelling on the victory, instead choosing to focus on the next match.

“Our team pressured Paraguay with strong serves which made our life easier,” he said. “Tomorrow we will practice hard in the morning and study Colombia our next opponent. I hope our serve keep working as it did today.”